Bonnie and Mandy Choose...The Best Books of 2017!

Hey Bookworms!

Today we're talking about our top, well...everything!
(INCLUDING Top Titles We Didn't Read, so we're tying it into TTT! ^.~)


Today, we have a VERY special treat for you.

We've read SO MANY great books this year. Some of the books, everyone loved and you can't throw a rock on social media without reading about them. Others flew under the radar and need a lot more love than they've gotten.

Here are our very favorite titles of 2017. 
Let us know what yours are!


Today, we present to you...

Our Top 26, well, everything, of 2017!

Intrigued? Do read on!

Bonnie and Mandy choose...
The Best of 2017

What's the start of a new year without a look back at the previous one?

Mandy and I put together our favorites in 26 select categories to share with you!

What are YOUR favorites of 2017??

1) BEST COVERS:

B: BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT by Tochi Onyebuchi 
THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas
BONE JACK by Sara Crowe
DRAW YOUR WEAPONS by Sarah Sentilles
RETRIBUTION RAILS by Erin Bowman
WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon
TO DIE IN SPRING by Ralf Rothman
NOW I RISE by Kiersten White
ROAR by Cora Carmack
THE LIST by Patricia Forde
THE HISTORY OF BEES by Maja Lunde
THE AGE OF PERPETUAL LIGHT by Josh Weil

M: AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS by Margeret Rogerson
SONG OF THE CURRENT by Sarah Tolscer
VIOLET GRENADE by Victoria Scott
WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon
THE WICKER KING by K. Ancrum
PENELOPE MARCH IS MELTING by Jeffrey Michael Ruby
THE GAUNTLET by Karuna Riazi
STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor
THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden
DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody

2) PRETTIEST PAGES:

 B: THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS by Leigh Bardugo:

I loved this interior so much that I vlogged about it:

YouTube Link

M: HOUSE OF FURIES by Madeleine Roux: This mixed media had a gorgeous interior with these dark blue inked kind of pictures of the walls of the house.

3) MOST RECOMMENDED:

B: WARCROSS by Marie Lu was definitely my most recommended book this year! I read it really early--maybe in April? When I went to BEA in June, I knew I needed a physical copy to pass to my co-workers so we could all recommend the book. And I recommend it ALL the time at work. If you've talked to me this year, you've heard about this book!

[Review]
M:It's been a tough year. And so I found myself often recommending a book meant to induce laughs and smiles and that sweet nostalgic ache in the chest. WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon was probably my most recommended book of last year.

4) MOST UNPREDICTABLE:

B: PRINCE IN DISGUISE by Stephanie Kate Strohm I was NOT expecting to love this contemporary holiday novel full of cliches as much as I did, but I lovvvved it! Super cute and so hard to put down!

[Review]

RUNNER UP: WARCROSS by Marie Lu For all that I loved and recommended this book this year....it was unexpected. I still need to finish the Legend series--even though I own first editions of them all. I adored The Young Elites. I never read books this was comped to, such as Ready Player One by Ernest Cline because, really, video game/VR books? And yet I LOVED it. I loved the mystery that kept me turning pages. I loved that it was set in Japan, a country I once lived in that I miss so much. It just really engaged me in a way I never expected!

[Review]
M: THE HIDDEN MEMORY OF OBJECTS by Danielle Mages Amato. I just was not prepared for how deep this plot got, okay, I couldn't see the twists and turns coming and it took me days to fully process the true brilliance of this novel.

5) BIGGEST UGLYCRY MOMENT:

B: THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord completely wrecked me. OMG, you really need tissues for this one! But it's so worth it!!

M: LETTERS TO THE LOST by Brigid Kemmerer. I didn't have a lot of ugly cry moments this year, but 60% of the ones I did have were during this book and they were fierce.

6) Best Mystery:

B: I hate to mention the same book YET AGAIN since I want to feature as many books as possible, but I read very few mysteries this year, and of the ones I DID read, only one was truly engaging and gripping and unputdownable, so I HAVE to go with WARCROSS by Marie Lu yet again. I'm sorry!

[Review]
M: I'm gonna say DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody again. The mystery here is so unique and intriguing . . . how can illusions created by the main character be murdered?

7) A BOOK WE WISH GOT MORE LOVE:

 B: ROYAL BASTARDS by Andrew Shvarts  Seriously, how has NOBODY seemingly heard of this book or read it? There's danger. Heartache. Betrayal. First love. Friendship. Questions of loyalty. So many good things that keep you reading!  Plus, it's comped to Leigh Bardugo's best-selling SIX OF CROWS--and for good reason!

[Review]

 M: VIOLET GRENADE by Victoria Scott and ALL RIGHTS RESERVED by Gregory Scott Katsoulis. These books are so good you guys. The first is a holy original psychological thriller and dark romance while the latter is a dystopian query on language and copyright that will renew your love for dystopian novels. I want all the love for them.

[Review:
VIOLET GRENADE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]

8) BIGGEST SURPRISE:
B: I was really proud of how much non-fiction I read this year! Granted, it still wasn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, but I read at LEAST four Broadway-related titles, one of which was a memoir and one of which was a world affairs history book, and I read a couple of books not connected to Broadway shows as well. That's a lot for me!

M: The amount of contemporary I really enjoyed this year was staggering. Actually I think the amount of books I read in general was surprising. Coming off of years of not going over 30 books in a year I made it to 87! So close yet so far to my goodreads goal of 100.

9) BEST BOOK EVENT ATTENDED:

Alton Fitzgerald White holding his Lion's Mane Frappucino like he's Rafiki and it is Simba!

 B: I got to co-host a writing workshop with Leanna Renee Hieber at my local Barnes and Noble during B-Fest this past September AND I got to moderate a Q&A with Broadway actor Alton Fitzgerald White (Who played King Mufasa in Disney's The Lion King for a record-breaking 13 years) at the same store, so those were really special memories for me that I enjoyed immensely!
M: Seeing Patrick Ness and Adam Silvera at a book signing at a Barnes and Noble. I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO MUCH AND BEEN SO MOVED ALL AT ONCE. They are, as a pair, so intensely humorous and so seriously passionate about what they do as YA writers.

As for big events, I went to my first BookCon and to be quite honest, it was a memorable and not holy  positive experience. I LOVED the discussion pannels, I got to hear Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black speak, but the convention floor was awful. Too much pushing, everything I even felt a twinge of interest in was full in seconds . . . I was not super happy.

10) BEST BEA TITLE:

Meeting Neil Patrick Harris and seeing WARCROSS featured EVERYWHERE,
including on this sidewalk, were definitely BEA 2017 highlights!

B:  MAGIC MISFITS by Neil Patrick Harris if only because OMG I GOT TO MEET NPH!!!!! And he was SO nice and I now have a finished hardcover and I STILL haven't read this and it makes my heart break. ^^;;;;
 
M: I have not gotten through as many of my BEA titles as I wanted to but out of what I did read WARCROSS by Marie Lu. I'm not even a huge video game fan and I sunk into this book in seconds and never quite came back out.

11) BEST BOOK OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE:

 B: THE PUNCH ESCROW by Tal M. Klein I struggle a lot with sci-fi, especially hard sci-fi. My brain isn't wired to easily comprehend really technical things, so I've struggled a lot with this genre in the past. I gave this one a try because at BEA, a publicist I trust pitched it to me when she heard how much I loved WARCROSS by Marie Lu. So...I said yes. I was really happy with how engaging this novel was and how it was broken down for people like me to understand without being condescending or taking away from the story. The main character assumes people are reading his notes way in the future, so he has a bunch of footnotes explaining his assumed-to-be now-archaic technology. It was a helpful primer for those of us in the past, too! The narrator's voice was also engaging, so I was really glad I read this one!

[Review]

I also read quite a few graphic novels this year, which is a genre I don't dabble in too much. By far, my favorite was THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER by Jen Wang, which doesn't actually come out until February 13, 2018, but it was SO good. I can't wait to give you my full review next month!

[Interview with Jen Wang]
M: I don't normally like historical fiction. Or at least I didn't think I did, but maybe I've just been reading the wrong stuff. THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTUE by Mackenzie Lee changed me completely, totally pulled me in and I enjoyed the learning as much as the story itself.

12) BEST HAPPILY EVER AFTER:

B: I mostly read continuing series this year or books that didn't have completely tied up endings. So I am going to go COMPLETELY off the beaten trail and say the unexpected:
UNI THE UNICORN AND THE DREAM COME TRUE by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Brigette Barrager. This is the second picture book in the series about a little girl who believes that unicorns are real when nobody else does and a unicorn who believes little girls are real even though none of the other unicorns do. When they meet, it is like a burst of happiness to the heart. Also, validation, because OF COURSE both are real!!!! This book made me happy. And also sad, because it may be one of the last works we see from the late Rosenthal. But mostly happy!

[Review]
M: DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody. A mystery is solved, the main character learns important lessons about herself and the world around her, and she finds a pure and complicated but oh so everything she needs in her life kind of love. This is the kind of endings I love, the endings that don't erase the journey but build upon it.
  


13) MOST THRILLING:

B: You guys. I read a lot of "older" books this year like the whole Air Awakens series by Elise Kova and two duologues I hadn't had a chance to get to in 2016, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. They were all super thrilling and hard to put down and how can I even choose when I gulped these entire series down at once in the same fashion? 

M: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER: THE WICKER KING by K. Ancrum. MY EMOTIONS HAVE STILL NOT RECOVERED OKAY. This gorgeous mixed media story had my mind doing cartwheels and then hiding under tables.

THRILLER: THIS MORTAL COIL by Emily Suvada. GENETICS, VIRUSES, HACKING DNA. Lord the action scenes in this book had me sweating with anxiety.

14) MOST PROMISING NEW SERIES:

B: I'm going to narrow it down to TWO and pick two books I loved that both had not one but TWO books in the series release this year, and both were strong and made me want MORE BOOKS. I adored DREADNOUGHT by April Daniels, about the first trans-superhero and couldn't put it or its sequel SOVEREIGN down. I'm not sure if there will be more, but I sure hope so! Second, my beloved Alethea Kontis took part when author Kristen Painter opened up her Nocturne Falls universe for selected authors to play in. She had two fantastic YA contributions this year, THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND WOLVES and WHEN TINKER MET BELL, as well as a short story in the holiday anthology--and she's going to write more books for the line as well! I'm so happy about this because her writing is so engaging and the way she brings fairy tales and myths to life is so unique. I didn't realize just how much I'd missed regular releases from Kontis until I picked these up! I am SO excited there are more on the horizon!

[Review: 
DREADNOUGHT
THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND WOLVES, WHEN TINKER MET BELL]
M: This is one of the hardest categories for me. I read a lot of beginnings of new series or stand alones. I am going to narrow this down to my top two. MASK OF SHADOWS by Linsey Miller. The writing, the fight scenes, the gender fluid main character! I can see this world stretching into a long and fruitful series. SONG OF THE CURRENT by Sarah Tolcser.  THE WATER IMAGERY. THE IMAGERY IN GENERAL. GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK. It's sequel comes out this year and it's on my top list of anticipated 2018 YA Novels.

[Review: MASK OF SHADOWS

15) BEST RETELLING
B: This is actually one of the hardest categories for me this year. I have read a ridiculous amount of good retellings, many of them during Magic, Myth, and Mischief. Ultimately, I'm going to have to go with GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND ICE by Melissa Bashardoust, a retelling of Snow White, because it was so uniquely retold and original and engaging and ultimately SATISFYING. It didn't go the way tradition dictated it should, which kept me guessing, and I have to say, I especially liked the Stepmother's story!

[Review]
M: I actually didn't read any retellings this year, which is SO WEIRD for me. 

16) MOST SINISTER VILLAIN:
B: Xifeng from FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao is a villain's origin story and man does it bring the punches! I need this sequel in my hands so I can see how everything concludes. Xifeng literally has my heart in her hands right now!

[Review]  

M: Darkness/The King of the Underworld/Hades from PERILOUS PROPHECY by Leanna Renee Hieber. Can you get any more sinister than Hades himself? There are some great descriptions of his form shifting between flesh and bare, haunting bone and they seriously gave me chills.

[Review]

17) HEARTTHROB OF THE YEAR:

B: Jamie from PRINCE IN DISGUISE by Stephanie Kate Strohm. He may be the epitome of a cliche designed to make us swoon, but we still can't resist his charms and fall for this quirky love interest anyway! 

[Review]
M: Um, Broody McHottiepants because he's pretty much every heartthrob possible wrapped in one deliciously snarky package. You can learn all about his cerulean orbs and get tips on how to become a main character in his book BROODING YA HERO: BECOMING A MAIN CHARACTER (ALMOST) AS AWESOME AS ME by Carrie Ann DiRisio.

18) BEST KICK-ASS HEROINE:
B: Ack, well, both Yeva from HUNTED by Meagan Spooner and Liesl from WINTERSONG by S. Jae-Jones feature females that have to go into a completely foreign world full of dangers and survive in order to embrace their destinies. I don't think I could do what either of these two amazing ladies did!

[Review:
HUNTED
WINTERSONG]
M: I'm torn between Alex from LABYRINTH LOST by Zoraida Córdova and Noemi Vidal from DEFY THE STARS by Claudia Gray. They're both fighters, they both put potential love interests to the side in order to achieve their goals and fight their battles. They kick ass but they're also flawed and human and those are the kind of heroes I look up to the most.

19) 10 MOST ANTICIPATED TITLES OF 2018:

Bonnie and Mandy made a huge list last week that you should totally check out! ^.~

20) Top 5 Books We WANTED To Read...But Didn't Get To!:

B: THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL: QUESTS FOR GLORY by Soman Chaining This perhaps hurts my heart more than any other book I didn't read this year because I loved the first trilogy so much and have been coveting this so badly. But I got sick right after it came out and didn't read for a couple of months and everything I WANTED to read largely fell to wayside in favor of review books, so... *stares longingly*
THE POWER by Naomi Alderman This book is all over my social media feed! It's considered to be a modern-day HANDMAID'S TALE and it was Emma Watson's November/December Book Club Pick. I wanted to read it last week to be a contender for today's post, alas, best laid plans...
GEEKERELLA by Ashley Poston Another book I struggled to get to! I even brought it to work with me a few times. Now it's sitting forlornly on my nightstand. I'd hoped to get to this one last week, too....
THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. Chakraborty Again, I'd hoped to catch up last week. This one is supposed to have a lot of lore from 1,0001 Arabian Nights and be for fans of THE WRATH AND THE DAWN and A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES. I had an ARC and now I have a finished copy and I still haven't gotten to it! ^^;;;
SOURDOUGH by Robin Sloan This one I actually DID start reading this past week! I'm more than 3/4 of the way through it and thoroughly enjoying it, but I didn't finish in time for this post. It's on every major Best of the Year List and is tapped as a 2018 award contender, so I knew I had to read this one. It's REALLY good so far!

K: STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor - I have it, I have run my fingers over that beautiful cover. I WILL READ IT THIS YEAR SO HELP ME GOD.
ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS by Francesca Zappia. Again, I have it, I will get to it eventually because I KNOW I'm going to love it. I just didn't get to it this year.
GRACELING by Kristin Cashore. I finally bought it this year. Bonnie is going to disown me if I don't get to it by the end of 2018
THE GRISHA SERIES by Leigh Bardugo. I KNOW. I AM ASHAMED. Sometime this year I am going to read ALL THE BOOKS in the grisha verse.
ONE OF US IS LYING by Karen Mcmanus. It's crazy that I handsell this book like a crazed lunatic when I haven't read it yet. I KNOW I'M GOING TO LOVE IT, and I've heard so many amazing things. This is another one I have a copy of so there are no excuses not to get to it this year.

21) BEST NEW IN SERIES:
B: I almost exclusively read first books this year or older series where I read the whole thing at once. Sooooo I can't really speak to a "middle" book or "final" book and instead, will list my two favorite books that were First in a Series: RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer and CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber! Both of them had me reading as fast as I could and were impossible to put down. I need the sequels now!

[Review:
RENEGADES
CARAVAL]   


M: FINAL BOOK: OBSIDIAN AND STARS by Julie Eshbaugh. I loved this dualogy so much and the ending was just how I like it, a sensible conclusion to the arc but not so tied up in a bow that I couldn't continue to imagine that world. PLUS HELLO ORIGINAL SETTING, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW A FANTASY SET IN PREHISTORIC TIMES?

[Review]

22) BEST NEW TO "US" TITLE 
          (Probably not new to YOU!...but WE have never read these favorites before 2017!):
B:  I waited and waited until all the books were out--and then ran out of reading time--and then FINALLY got to read the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova to prep for an author signing I was attending! Such a good series. I still need to read the prequel, but I'm in luck, because Elise will be signing locally next month and I can finally pick up my copy! I'm also finally beginning to read The Black Mage series by Rachel E. Carter now that it's complete. It's been sitting on my nook for ages and my friends keep telling me to read it. I'm already on Book Two, but had to put it down to get to some more 2017 titles so I could make this list!

M:  THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE by Heidi Heilig I got introduced to the title when its sequel came out and my mind kept reaching for the book ALL YEAR ROUND. And when I finally got to it I was like WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MY LIFE UP TILL THIS MOMENT. Pirates! Time Travel! ONE OF MY FAV OPENING LINES OF ALL TIME.

23) BEST PICTURE BOOK TITLE:

B: LISTEN. I can't decide between CINNAMON by Neil Gaiman and THE MERMAID by Jan Brett and LIFE by Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wenzel. All three could be Caldecott Contenders! I still remember the line that hooked me in CINNAMON about how "Her eyes were pearls, which gave her great beauty, but meant she was blind." That line gives me goosebumps every time! And THE MERMAID is a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears set in Okinawa, Japan! And LIFE is co-produced by Brendan Wenzel, who I got to meet at BEA, and the illustrations and message of the book are gorgeous and great to give kids who are beginning to know that life can be hard, but we always keep going! How can I choose???

[Review:
THE MERMAID
LIFE]
M: CINNAMON by Neil Gaiman for its gorgeous illustrations and the empowering storyline.


24) BEST MIDDLE-GRADE TITLE:

B: COMPASS SOUTH and KNIFE'S EDGE by Hope Larson This middle-grade graphic novel duology (Though I hope there will be more!) was so engaging. It starred TWINS and featured family. Plus, pirate ships!!! I wish more people knew about these books!

[Review]
M:-I'm tied between THE GAUNTLET by Karuna Riazi and HEAR THE WOLVES by Victoria Scott. The first is a fabulous steampunk middle-eastern fantasy adventure with Jumanjii vibes, and the latter is a blizzardy survival story with wolves and nature and people who weren't necessarily friends having to depend on each other for survival.

[Review: HEAR THE WOLVES]

25) BEST YA...

--FANTASY TITLE:

B: WARCROSS by Marie Lu Seriously, did you guys doubt this for the slightest second???

[Review]

M:  DAUGHTER OF THE BURNING CITY by Amanda Foody It has a unique, dark storyline that kept me engaged all the way through.


--CONTEMPORARY TITLE:

B: It's a tie between ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS by Francesca Zappia and THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord. Honorable Mention to TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green!

M: THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas. I still lose my mind and control of my emotions every time I talk about this book with someone. It hits on relevant topics in today's world, it serves as a conversation starter, it's diverse and own voices and it's freaking BEAUTIFULLY written with shakingly real characters and dialogue that made me feel like a fly on the wall of real life. And for a contemporary to be my top pick when I'm normally a heart and soul fantasy girl . . . that's saying something.


[Review]

26) BEST ADULT TITLE:

B: THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET by Natasha Pulley I know it didn't come out in 2017 but I was sent a copy for review along with an ARC of the author's 2017 release THE BEDLAM STACKS (Which I sadly have not gotten to yet!) The world was really unique and captivating. I'm also not one for historical novels, but this one was done by mixing together so many intriguing elements that it was hard to put down. I look forward to reading Pulley's latest novel.


M: THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTENGALE by Katherine Arden wins for me. I normally tolerate adult books and I have a hard time finding fantasies that really reel me in. But the thick folklore of this tale and the slow burn with a taste of  magic was GORGEOUS.

[Design Vlog]

What do you agree/disagree with from our list?
What were YOUR 2017 favorites???